


Paris in the Rain

by writeringoodfaith



Series: Love Square Kisses [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Apparently I'm a helpless reveal addict and can't be stopped, F/M, Identity Reveal, Kissing in the Rain, Ladrien (Miraculous Ladybug), Ladrien | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Prompt Fic, Role Reversal, Third time in a row, Umbrella Scene (Miraculous Ladybug)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24834583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeringoodfaith/pseuds/writeringoodfaith
Summary: The steady pitter-patter of rain against stone pavement always brought good memories back to Marinette. Memories of an act of kindness. A clap of thunder. A change of heart. During a solo patrol, her memory of that moment in the rain suddenly turns tangible as she runs into real-life Adrien Agreste. But hey, she’s always wanted her first kiss to happen in the rain.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Love Square Kisses [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1785649
Comments: 17
Kudos: 88





	Paris in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Wet kisses after finding refuge from the rain (further details in the series description!)  
> Inspired by: Yunyin’s Ladrien rainy day kiss https://yunyin.tumblr.com/post/189693438070  
> Soundtrack: Paris in the Rain - Lauv

_Drip drip._

The rain made a pitter-patter against the surface of her umbrella before falling onto the sidewalk where it collected in rivulets across the Parisian stone walkways.

The moving water reflected the street lights lining the street and glinted back at her as it rustled by.

Marinette smiled to herself.

Each raindrop was a blessing for it reminded her of a very special moment in her life. An act of kindness. A clap of thunder. A change of heart.

The black umbrella currently over her head - a memento itself of the time she fell in love.

The first time she properly looked into his eyes and noticed what a startling shade of green they were was during that moment. His glance towards her over his shoulder as he confessed his insecurity. The small smile that followed. And then his hand, bundled into a fist over a black handle and holding his umbrella over her. His gaze catching hers as she found that someone whom she couldn't bear to look at just a few moments ago had become someone from whom she dared not look away. The rolling thunder - a sudden reminder that she was staring. She reached over to take his peace offering and when her fingers collided with his her brain knew that static electricity didn't happen in wet weather conditions. But the thrill in her fingertips told a different story.

Did he feel it then too?

That charged moment when their hands met?

It took another attempt to take the umbrella off him. She tried not to linger over his hands encompassing hers as he palmed the umbrella off to her suddenly shaky grasp. And though the umbrella closed over her a few seconds later and she let out a grunt of surprise, his melodious laughter was not unkind. It was warm. Inviting. And she found herself chuckling too.

Only when he was leaving did she notice the darkening grey of the shoulders of his white overshirt.

Perhaps he didn't notice. Or perhaps he didn't care. Because she was on his mind.

So on days like this, days when the heavens opened and rain poured down onto city streets and Parisians ducked under cover, Marinette did not shy away from the inclement weather.

No, she embraced it.

And let memories of _him_ and his moment of kindness roam freely through her mind.

And when it rained during her solo patrol sessions and life-sized photograph advertisements of Adrien became glistening wet with raindrops well, really, it only aided her imagination.

This advertisement must have been a new one for she didn't recognise it. From across the street, he stood straight, plastered against the bus stop's advert. His crisp white shirt showing signs of the downpour on his shoulders. His blond locks sagging with the weight of the rain. She wondered what new product he was adverti—

Oh.

Adrien brought a hand up and slicked his hair back, blinking water from his eyes.

It _was_ him.

Marinette hurried over across the road, eager to offer him some protection from the bus stop which was designed to protect from the sun but not from water, as slats ran across the roof and exposed him to the wetness drizzling from the sky.

"Adrien," she blurted out. "Here!"

He turned towards her in one fluid motion, and she noticed water droplets thickening his blond eyelashes like a runway look.

"Ladybug?"

She drew to a stop in front of him, remembering a little too late that she was transformed. And on patrol. "Hi." It came out breathless. She'd like to blame it on the leap it took her to get to him. But her traitorous heartbeat pounded unsteadily in contradiction. Remembering the reason for her impromptu dash, she thrust the umbrella overhead. Beneath the safety of her mask, she dared to proffer a small smile with her offering.

The black umbrella stood above them both. Occasional splats sneaking through the slats in the bus stop covering announced their presence as they dripped down the umbrella's surface and onto the ground.

And onto Marinette's uncovered head.

But she waited for him to make a move.

Like he waited for her to make a move, so long ago.

In the meantime, she admired him. She admired the curve of his jaw, chiseled to accommodate his mouth, which had fallen open at her arrival. She admired the curve of his eyebrows, and the pink tip of his nose, probably cold from the weather. And most of all, she admired the way he looked at her. Like the green tourmaline which made up his irises and the large dark pupil shining from within its depths had never before found anything so enchanting.

When his fingers found hers in the offering of an umbrella, he started a little; his face sliding into an embarrassed grin. He tried again and this time succeeded, his large hand dwarfing her gloved fingers as it encompassed the handle formerly in her grasp.

"Thank you, Ladybug," he said.

"It was about time I returned it to you," she giggled into her hand.

"Returned it to me?" he echoed and alarm bells went off in her head like an ambulance circling her roundabout of a brain.

A quick wordless escape was probably best. She spun on her heels.

"See you la—" she said at the same time he asked, "Marinette?"

She felt so hot that she was sure the rain droplets were turning to steam on her face. Shaking her head furiously, she denied it. "Who's that?" But then remembered Ladybug had met Marinette during Kwamibuster. "Oh! _That_ Marinette! _Right_. She was a great Multimouse."

" _You_ were a great Multimouse, M'Lady."

Why wasn't it working?! Marinette felt flustered. Surely she couldn't allow this reveal to happen. She needed to find some way to take it back. Surely Adrien lent umbrellas to people all the time. Surely she wasn't the only person in the world with an outstanding umbrella debt to him.

Perhaps some of the thought process spinning through her brain had made its way to her facial expression because before she knew it, Adrien had stepped right up to her, the umbrella shielding both of them from the rain as his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"You don't have to be _Marimouse_ if you don't want to be."

Her gaze zeroed in on the pavement. She concentrated on the drip-drop of water collecting into puddles at their feet. How was he so kind? Even now? "I'm not." She repeated to his orange converse shoes.

"Look at me, M'Lady."

Reluctantly, she allowed him to tilt her gaze up to him with the slow and deliberate movement of his fingers.

And then something else clicked.

Something terrible.

Something terribly wonderful.

What had he just called her?

"Kitty?" she asked.

His eyes widened and his touch on her face suddenly felt like it was burning.

"I don't have to be your Kitty, if you don't want me to be." He repeated, his voice only a shade louder than a whisper, so quiet she had to fight to hear it over the rain.

Her heart hurt at his words.

How could he say that?

She knew how much an identity reveal meant to him. How could he be so selfless and generous and offer to take it all back? Offer to shove the secrets she had unwittingly unlocked back into Pandora's box with a wilful blindfold towards its consequences?

Just for her.

Because he always put her first.

His hand remained a steady presence on her cheek.

She shook her head. "Mm-mm."

Looking down at the gap between them, she reached over to tug at the edge of his white overshirt. Her fingers clutched at the damp cotton. Holding onto him felt like a lifeline. The only thing familiar in a spinning sea of uncertainty.

Obligingly, he stepped forward, his hand adjusting to cup her cheek, his fingers splaying across her wet hair and resting at the base of her skull.

He looked into her eyes.

She felt like she could drown in its depths.

Adrien Agreste's face was one that she had spent countless hours studying.

Marinette had a shameful amount of sketches of him in notebooks at home. She could draw the contours of his face with her eyes closed. But she had never imagined them with a mask.

She imagined it now.

Black leather would border the tip of his nose and stretch across his eyebrows. His hair, currently sodden and with their usual side part would be split closer to the middle. And instead of a side-swept fringe, his bangs would fall into his face with more volume and chaos than Adrien Agreste's hair was probably ever allowed. Ears would perk up there, right across the top of his head. And his eyes. His eyes. How had she never noticed they were the same shade of green? They would fill his sclera. Like the cat his alter ego was named for. Like Plagg's. And in them, she could read the plethora of expressions that he was free to display without attaching his father's name or reputation to it.

Adrien, or Chat. She could spend a lifetime studying either of them. Either face of the same person. The storm would eventually stop and day would follow this night but the boy in front of her was someone that would never stop meaning the world to her.

A gentle question interrupted her reverie. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

She found her voice and mustered a breathy, "Yes. I'm okay. It's okay."

And though the sky remained grey, and rain continued to fall onto the pavement with the resounding force of gravity on its side, Adrien's responding grin felt like the sun coming out and peeking over the horizon.

He looked down at her, and she did not miss the way his eyes drifted to her lips.

This gave her the courage to edge closer to him. Her gloved fingertips reached up to trace the side of his face. His damp hair dripped steady beads onto his lips like couture lip gloss.

The atmosphere darkened as Adrien lowered his umbrella above the both of them.

Her lips met his in a kiss mingled with water and tasting of petrichor. But under the cover of his umbrella, nobody else was there to witness it.

It was a beautiful moment.

Another beautiful moment in the rain.

With someone who was beautiful inside and out. Masked and unmasked. With someone who made her heart jump out of her chest. Someone who made the sun shine on even the most dreary of days. Who could make anywhere in the world feel right. So long as he was there, beside her.

She kissed him again.


End file.
